Bad is a Perspective
by Mischief's Angel
Summary: There's something odd about the new Norse Mythology teacher at Cara's University, and she's determined to find out what. What happens when the new professor is..."The god of Mischief"! Set after the Avengers, Loki plans to conquer his enemies the "Avengers", and Cara winds up caught in the middle. Only T for safety. No language or anything.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Cara's alarm clock seemed to be screaming at her to wake up. She rolled over and smacked the snooze button a few times, until the noise stopped. She forced herself to sit up and look at the clock. Her eyes grew wide at the number on the clock.

"Crud!" she yelled jumping out of bed and grabbing whatever shirt and pair of jeans was nearest to her. She pulled her tangled blonde curls into a messy bun, grabbed her keys, and was out the door. After running down the apartment complex stairs and to her car, she jumped in and turned the key. The engine of the old Bug sputtered and stalled.

"No! No! No!" she said turning the key again, "I have the worst luck on the planet!"  
She turned the key one last time and the old car make an unpleasant sound and died. "No!" could be heard throughout the parking lot. She would have to take the train. It was only her first day back to the university and she was going to start it by being late.

When she reached the train station she looked up at the schedule board. Her train was almost full, the line was long, and it left in six minutes! She scrambled to think of a plan. She jumped in line, which, to her benefit, was moving very quickly. She was standing behind a tall man in a dark grey suit. Normally she would not have noticed who was in front of her, but she couldn't help but notice his shoulder length, raven-black hair and his height. The line moved quickly until the strange man was at the counter.  
"One ticket for the nine o'clock downtown," he said.  
Cara nearly melted at the strangers soft British accent and smooth voice.  
"Here you go, sir" said the clerk, handing him the ticket.  
"Uh, same train," Cara said when she was up.  
"I'm sorry, miss," the clerk started, "but that was the last seat."  
"Please! There has to be room!" Cara pleaded, "If I miss this train, my life is unofficially over!"  
Suddenly there was a ticked held out to her, but not by the clerk. She followed the hand that was holding it up to see the man that was in line in front of her.  
"Here," he said, "It sounds like you need it more than I do."  
"Oh, I can't possibl-"  
"Take it," he insisted again, "Before you miss your train."  
"Thank you so much!" Cara said. She ran for the train looking over her shoulder as the man waved goodbye and smiled.

She ran into the college classroom breathing heavily, because she had run all the way from the train. She had only made it on time by about twenty seconds, but she'd take it. Her friend Jamie waved her over to sit down next to her. Cara dropped into her seat and greeted her friend. It was the first day of a new Norse Mythology class at the university, which meant more work and a new professor. The name "Lucas Laufeyson" was written neatly on the board, but there was no sign of the professor. Cara looked around the room, but all she saw was Donald Blake waving at her from across the room. She rolled her eyes and hesitantly shot a weak wave back.

The class went on for nearly forty minutes with no professor, until someone new entered the classroom. Cara was surprised to see the man from the train station standing at the board. Her jaw dropped. Jamie looked over at her.  
"You okay?" she whispered.  
"That's the guy from the station!" Cara whispered back.  
"The hot, British guy?" Jamie inquired, admiring their new teacher.  
"Yeah," Cara nodded.  
"Nice!"  
He set his things up on his desk and turned to the class.  
"Good morning," he began, "I apologize for being late and assure you that it will not happen again. I suppose we shall take the class time that we have left to go over the layout and rules of this class. First of all this is, in fact, a very difficult study of Norse Mythology and not some easy class about 'fairy tales'. If you believe otherwise you may go ahead and leave. Second: I do not appreciate it when people show up to my class late. If you do, you'd better have a darn good excuse!"  
"Tough talk comin' from the guy who was forty minutes late," Blake whispered to the student next to him.  
"Your name!" came the reply when the teacher overheard him.  
"Uh, Donny Blake," Blake sighed.  
"I do believe you have a point, Blake. I should not have been late and I owe you all an explanation. I was 'late' because I gave my train seat to a beautiful, young lady in great need of one. If you do not find that worthy of running late, than that is your problem."  
Cara blushed and sank into her chair. It was a rather awkward class period for her. She did find the class interesting, but part of her knew that it was less the mythology than the professor.

The next few weeks passed slowly and uneventfully. Cara found that she had quite gotten the hang of understanding the Norse class and her scores had improved because of it. She did, however, avoid the teacher at all costs, outside of class. She didn't want any awkward moments, however, the next day in class wanted otherwise.

She sat in her usual seat, next to Jamie, and pulled out her book, pen, and notes. Jamie sat next to her, but was still half asleep. Cara thought nothing of the empty seat beside her, until it was occupied by another student: Donny Blake. She mentally rolled her eyes, but all the same felt that she should act like she was okay with it. She and Blake had been dating for a few months and he thought far more of it than she did.  
"Hi, Carebear," he said as she looked up at him and forced a smile.  
"Hi, Donny," she casually replied. Jamie was desperately trying not to notice him, because she strongly disliked Blake and knew that Cara could do far better. The class started, but it promised to be a slow and easy day, note wise. Cara sat and listened to their teacher, Jamie melted at his accent, and Blake was more focused on his girlfriend. He put his arm around Cara and continued to act like he was paying attention. Cara ignored this gesture, because it wasn't the first time he had done so. Jamie noticed that the professor saw Blake's gesture from the corner of his eye. His voice grew colder and sterner while giving the lecture. When he had turned to look at the board, Blake sized the opportunity and gently kissed the corner of Cara's mouth. She, again, ignored it, but Jamie knew that this had struck a nerve with their teacher.  
"Blake," he called out, looking over at them, "Miss Stone is in the back of the classroom. I don't believe that she can see the board very well. Switch seats with her."  
"Then I can't see it," Blake protested.  
"Well, I don't think it will make much of a difference, considering that you are not paying attention anyway," he continued. Blake removed his arm from Cara and took his things to the other seat. The other student sat next to Cara.  
"Hi, Brooke," Cara said to her as she sat down. The class then continued as usual.

The bell then rang which signaled that the class was over. This was the only class before lunch, which made Cara very happy. She didn't eat breakfast very often, so, in her mind, lunch was a beautiful thing. She grabbed her notes and Mythology book and shoved them into her bag. She them followed Jamie to the door. Right before she set foot outside for her lunch freedom she was suddenly called back.  
"Cara," said the Norse professor rather distantly as he gathered his papers, "May I speak with you?"  
"Sure," she said walking slowly back into the classroom. She signaled Jamie that she would meet her at lunch. And walked up to the professor's desk.  
"I have a proposition for you," he said rather distantly as he wiped all the writing off of the blackboard.  
"What?" she asked nervously. He turned and looked straight at her with a far friendlier (but still very professional) expression than usual.  
"I have been searching for a student to fill the assistant teaching position for this class," he began, "And I have decided that you are the best choice. It means you will have to stay at the University longer, on most days, but you do work for a small salary that goes toward you tuition. And…you will automatically be passed in this class." Cara stood silent in for a moment, considering the offer. She did need the extra money for college and her part time job at Izzy's Diner didn't pay all that well.  
"If you would like more information about the position, you are welcome to join me for lunch and I shall tell you more about it," he concluded.  
"Uh…sure. Lunch would be fine," she said.  
"Good," he said heading out of the classroom. She waited a moment and then followed.

About twenty minutes into the lunch period, Cara walked to the outdoor cafeteria and sat down across from Jamie and Brooke.  
"What took you so long?" Jamie asked with a mouth half-full of chips.  
"And where's yer lunch?" Brooke added.  
"I had lunch with Professor Laufeyson," Cara started, "He wanted to talk to me about an assistant teaching position." Jamie and Brook looked at each other and grinned.  
"I told you so, Brooke," Jamie stated.  
"What are you two smiling about?" Cara asked looking from one to the other.  
"Cara, it's so obvious!" Jamie burst out (but not so loud as to be heard by other tables).  
"What?" Cara asked hesitantly.  
"Our new teacher is so into you," Jamie continued.  
"What?" Cara said, a little louder than she would have liked, "He does not! That's…weird!"  
"Oh, right. A tall, hot British dude is clearly crushing on you and you say it 'weird'!"  
"He's kinda out teacher, Jamie."  
"Still! He was practically green when Blake kissed you. He moved him, so he would stop," Jamie pointed out, "Then he offers you a job, where he gets to spend more time with you….every day!"  
"Jamie!" Cara sighed, "Wake up and smell reality."  
"You smell it. The gal's right!" Brooke added in Jamie's defense. Cara just sighed and stayed silent.

The new job meant that Cara would be staying after class most days. She would be working in a large segment of Laufeyson's office (which was surprisingly huge!). She sat there sorting papers and doing her part of the teaching job. She paused for a brief moment when she heard the professor talking to another teacher in the hallway. When the conversation concluded he walked into his office and Cara tried as hard as she could to make it look like she had been working. He hung his jacket up and sat at his desk.  
"Cara?" he asked across the room, as he looked through a stack of well sorted and graded papers that Cara had place there recently.  
"Yes, professor?" she asked quietly. He laughed softly at the title.  
"Lucas," he said happily.  
"What?" Cara asked.  
"Technically, I'm not your professor anymore. We work together. Therefore, I would prefer it if you would call me Lucas instead."  
"Um…alright," she said, feeling a bit less tense, "Did you have something else to say?"  
"Oh, right," he said, snapping back to his original train of thought, "Do you drink coffee?"  
"I like cold coffee, so yeah," she replied, a little shaken by the randomness of the question, "Uh…why?"  
"Because I often get coffee and bring it back, so I was wondering if you would want any."

From that day forward, he brought Cara iced coffee every day that she was there. She was always happy to get it, because he fixed it exactly the way she loved it. She wondered how he always got it right and then she realized that it was because he had the exact same type of coffee.  
"Cool," she thought to herself.

She grew very accustomed to working with Lucas and getting her daily iced coffee. She worked very hard, but she found it very fun at the same time. She had always loved working at Izzy's on the weekend, but after a few weeks of her job with Lucas, her other job felt like it was missing something. Something that she couldn't quite figure out.

Monday rolled around and she was much earlier than usual. It was not yet eleven o'clock and she had almost finished her work for the day. She slowed down as much as she could, because she secretly just wanted to spend more time around Lucas. She mentally scolded herself for thinking like that, but it didn't do any good. While she continued working, she noticed something….no coffee. Lucas hadn't come in yet at all. Everything on his side of the office remained just as it was on Friday when they left. She attempted to continue working, but was too worried. The next fifteen minutes felt like hours, until the office door opened. Lucas walked in slowly. He looked tired, his hair was messed up, and he wore a blue dress shirt and black pants, but, unlike usual, no jacket or tie. He sat at his desk and ran his hand through his hair.  
"Prof-…Lucas?" she asked quietly. He looked up slowly. He looked exhausted, but still managed a small smile.  
"Yes?" he said. His voice also sounded deep and tired.  
"Are you alright?" she asked, "You're kinda late."  
"I'm sorry I'm late."  
"What time did you get to sleep?"  
"Ten o'clock."  
"At night?"  
"At night two nights ago," he answered.  
"You haven't slept in three days?"  
"No, I haven't."  
"Okay, that's not good!" Cara protested. She was thinking about some way that she could help, but when she looked back over at him, he was fast asleep with his head on his desk. Cara laughed a little. She took her jacket from the back of her chair and folded it up. She walked over to his desk, gently lifted his head off of the desk and placed the folded jacket there instead. She carefully laid him back down and smoothed his hair a little. She had to admit, he looked very sweet when he was fast asleep. When he wasn't so serious, she realized just how young he actually looked, She thought that he was way to young to be a college professor. She took a few stacks of papers from his desk. She was almost done with her work, so she decided that she would help him out a little and work on his.

The rest of the week passed much quicker than Cara would have liked. She often finished her work early and then find some excuse to stay and talk with Lucas for a while, while he worked. It was now Saturday evening. She had just gotten off of work at Izzy's and was going to the University. She didn't usually go on a Saturday, but she had a key, so she could access the closed buildings and she needed to. Her iPod was left in her desk and she was on a mission to retrieve it. She walked down the hall to Lucas's office, but noticed something odd. There was a light on in the office. No one there ever worked on Saturdays (the building was dark everywhere else) and she had turned the light off when she last left. She opened the unlocked door and slowly walked in. She walked to her desk an grabbed her iPod and then walked to the door looking down as she walked. As she was walking to the door Lucas was walking to the other side of the open door, looking down at the stack of papers in his hand. Cara and Lucas each walked forward and collided with the other, causing them both to fall and papers to fly everywhere. Cara looked up after she realized what happened. She was afraid of his reaction until he looked around and broke out laughing.  
"I am so sorry," he laughed when he saw her.  
"Whoops," was all Cara could think to say. He picked her iPod and handed it back to her. She looked around at all the papers and tried to think of an apology. He saw her looking around at the mess.  
"Don't worry about it," he laughed, "It was my fault entirely."  
"No, it was my fault too," she said, blushing crimson red. She started to pick up all the scattered papers and he did the same. They reached for the last paper at the same times and their hands came together. Lucas drew his hand back and looked up at her. Only then did it occur to them how close they actually were. Their faces were only a few inches apart. Cara just blushed more, but Lucas surprised her by closing the gap between them. He pressed his lips to hers in a slow, gentle kiss. She thought about pulling away and rushing out of the room, but she couldn't make herself move. A large part of her didn't want to. He ended the kiss and pulled back.  
"I-I'm sorry," he said picking up the last piece of paper and standing up. Cara stood as he set the stack down on his desk. His breath caught in his throat as he felt her gaze fall on him. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence when he met her gaze with his own. To her he looked so sad and innocent. He couldn't hold her gaze for long until he looked back at his desk.  
"Cara? You here?" Blake's voice echoed down the hallway. He walked up to the door of the office. He felt the awkward tension, but proceeded inside.  
"I came to give you a ride home," he said to Cara. She nodded and followed him out. Lucas just stood there alone, long after she had left.

That Monday morning proved to be just as awkward. Cara walked into work to find Lucas already at his desk working. She paused outside the door for a moment. She could hear him talking to himself quietly.  
"What were you thinking?" he scolded to himself, "I wouldn't be surprised if she never speaks to you again!" He face-palmed and sighed. Cara opened the door and walked in as if she didn't hear anything. She walked strait to her desk and sat down. She immediately began working. He looked as if he wanted to look up at her, but could not find the strength. After a few moments of silence, he stood up and opened the door. Before he could leave, Cara slapped the file that she was holding down to the desk, stood up, and walked over right in front of him.  
"What was that?" she demanded.  
"What was what?" he asked, trying to appear calm.  
"You know what I'm talking about! Why did you kiss me!"  
"I don't know why. I am so sor-" He was cut off by Cara placing her hand on the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss that was far less gentle than his was. She pulled back and looked at him. He just stood there, unable to move yet again.  
"I am going to be in so much trouble for this," he said, wrapping his arms around Cara and pulling her back into the kiss. This was, of course, rather poor timing, because at the same time Jamie and Brooke were walking past the open door of the office. Jamie turned her head in time to see Cara and the new professor kissing in his office. Jamie grabbed Brooke's shoulder and turned her toward the door. They both just stood there with their mouths hanging open. A moment later they shook it off and hurried down the remainder of the hallway.

Meanwhile Cara broke the kiss once again.  
"No! Bad idea!" she said to both Lucas and herself, "Really bad idea!"  
"Why?" Lucas said, moving closer to her to make up for the distance that she had moved back. She just moved back further.  
"Well, for one, I have a boyfriend!" she protested.  
"Blake?" he asked dryly.  
"It's a stable…ish relationship."  
"I understand. Forgive me." Cara could almost see his heart sink. His face grew sad and embarrassed. He walked out the door and disappeared around a corner.

She was sitting back at her desk, finding it harder and harder to work. She wanted to call someone and talk, but at the same time she couldn't make herself tell anyone. She wanted to talk to Lucas. He had never come back from when he hurried out.  
"Oh, dang! I hurt him! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she said to herself, dropping her head down onto her desk. She saw something placed on the table right beside her head. It was her favorite iced coffee. She looked up to see Lucas walking back to his desk and sitting down.  
"Exactly, how much of that did you hear?"  
"All of it," he replied casually.  
"Awk-ward," she said slowly.  
"A little," he chuckled.  
"I'm really sorry about…yeah," she sighed.  
"It was my fault, really. I am sorry."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to wolfmagyx13 for the awesome review. I know I'm not the best writer, but I'm gonna write more anyway. = )**

Chapter 2:

That day at lunch, Cara walked over to her usual seat at lunch. Right by Jamie and Brooke. She sat down and took a drink of her Sprite. Jamie and Brooke just looked at each other and then at her. They had matching, mischievous grins.  
"What is it this time?" Cara sighed.  
"This is one of those 'I can't believe you didn't tell us' moments!" Jamie declared.  
"What didn't I tell you?!"  
"We saw you and our new professor…'working together'," Brooke said.  
"Yeah, it's kinda my job!" Cara said, rolling her eyes. Jamie and Brooke just looked at each other and tried to hold back laughter.  
"What?!" Cara said, her patience growing thin.  
"What do you mean what?" Jamie laughed, "You know what you did!"  
"And so does our new professor!" Brooke added.  
"Does Blake know!?" Jamie cut in before Cara could reply. Cara came to the sudden realization that her friends were talking about the stolen kiss in Lucas's office a short while before. Her eyes grew wide in panic!  
"How do you know about that?!" she demanded of her still laughing friends.  
"We were walking in the hallway and the door was wide open! Duh!" Brook laughed.  
"I swear…it was not what it looked like!" Cara shot up in defense.  
"Then what was it?" Jamie asked sarcastically.  
"Well…uh…" Cara started, "I don't know."  
"We told ya so!" Brooke laughed, "We told you he liked you!"  
"Shhhh!" Cara protested, "No one can know about that! It was a one time accident-type-deal."  
"One time?" Jamie giggled.  
"Okay! Maybe two," Cara admitted, "…or three."  
"Busted!" came the reply from both of her friends.  
"Listen! You can't say anything!" A few nods assured Cara that it would stay a secret…at least for now. They continued the rest of lunch with no noise except for the faint giggle from Jamie every once in a while.

After lunch Cara was slowly walking down the hallway, thinking about the events in the office. Part of her felt terrible, as if she had betrayed Blake. She always hated it when people got hurt in weird relationship issues. She admitted that she didn't care much for him, but she still didn't want to see him get hurt. She walked down the hallway, rather deep in thought, when she heard something odd. A girlish giggle that she didn't care for! It was loud and obnoxious to her. She turned a corner to see Blake standing in the hall talking to another girl from the University. He was standing next to her…very next to her! At that moment, all the feelings of regret that she had for the kiss faded. They were quickly replaced with anger! She noticed Lucas on the other side of the hall. He saw Blake and glared with a strong expression of anger and disgust.  
"Blake!" he growled, his voice practically dripping with venom and ill intention. Blake looked over surprised to see his very angry professor.  
"Yes, Sir!" he said stepping far away from the girl.  
"I believe that you have somewhere to be!"  
"Yes, Sir!" Blake repeated nervously. He quickly ran down the hallway (the other direction from his furious professor). He turned a corner to see Cara. She acted as if she hadn't seen anything.  
"Hi, CareBear," he said with a nervous smile. She forced a smile and was going to say something, but Blake turned to see Professor Laufeyson walking over. He darted away once again. Lucas's face softened and he looked almost hurt when he looked down at Cara.  
"You didn't say anything?" he asked her.  
"It happens more than I would care for," she sighed.  
"Why?" Lucas asked her, "Why would you let him treat you like that?" The sound of disgust with Blake was apparent in his voice.  
"I don't know," Cara stuttered, choking back tears. Lucas pulled her into a gentle hug and at the moment, she was more than happy to let him. He gently kissed her forehead.  
"I won't ever let him hurt you again," he whispered softly.

By the time a few hours had passed, Cara just wanted to disappear. She grabbed her bag from the office and all but ran to the door. She hurried out of the building and headed home a little early. At the same time, Lucas had just gotten back with her coffee in one hand and his in the other. He took a deep breath and walked into his office. He set his coffee down on his desk and turned to Cara's. His smile was shattered at the sight of a cleaned up and empty desk. He could tell that she already packed up and shut everything down. He looked at the second coffee in his hand and in a green flash, it vanished, leaving only a clenched fist. He walked to the window of the office. His reflection could clearly be seen in the glass, but it barely resembled him. As he gazed into the reflection, red eyes met his icy-blue eyes and instead of his almost porcelain skin, the skin of his reflection was a deep blue and had markings and lines running across the face. It was how he truly saw himself and in his mind, his reflection mocked him.  
"What did you expect?!" the Jotun monster laughed cruelly.  
"I…I…" Lucas tried to defend himself, but could only hear the cruel laughter.  
"Did you think that you could simply 'start over'!? That you could walk away from me!?" the Jotun mocked. Lucas said nothing and tried to look away.  
"What was it that you said to your 'brother'? Oh, yes! I remember."  
A flashback played in Lucas's mind. He was not himself, but a monster, clad in armor. He fought hard against his brother, but his brother did nothing.  
"Come on, Brother! What was it on that realm that turned you so soft!" he had mocked, "Don't tell me it was that woman!" His brother froze in a type of almost horror.  
"Oh…it was!" Lucas had yelled, "Well, maybe, when we're done here, I'll pay her a visit myself!" The threat was empty, but the mere thought that he had been so cruel to his brother, about what he fell trap to himself!

His mind then shot back and he stood in his office again. He looked back at the window, in hopes that his reflection would have changed, but he once again met the gaze of that Jotun monster. The Jotun grinned a venomous smile at him.  
"What was your name again?" the monster hissed.  
"Lucas!" came the reply.  
"You have always been such a talented liar! You've even fooled yourself! You think that you can forget who you were! The death and pain you've caused! You think you can forget the monster you are!" The monster's mouth turned quickly into a scowl.  
"You know what you are!" it continued, "What's your name!?"  
"L-Lucas!" the reply remained.  
"Well, well! It would appear that I was mistaken. You know full well who we are!"  
"Wh-what?"  
"Your lie is not aimed at yourself. What's her name then?"  
Lucas's face grew paler and he looked away from the reflection.  
"You really do care about her. How….hmm…quaint." the Jotun growled, "There's only one, little problem."  
"What?" Lucas asked, eyes fixed on the floor.  
"I can't do this without you. I need you to finish what we've started!"  
"No. No more plans! No more schemes! No more pain!"  
"Pain? Do you think this road will be less painful?! You'd throw your life away….and for what?! That mortal!?"  
"Yes."  
"She hates you! She can't stand the sight of you! How long did you honestly think you could fool her!? Why is she so eager to leave!?"  
"I…I don't know."  
"Fool! It's to get away from you! She hates you! Just like everyone else hates you! But, not anymore!"  
Lucas looked up to the window, but instead of the Jotun he saw a new reflection. It was an armor clad prince. A devilish grin and deep green eyes met his gaze. The reflection of the armor matched that of a golden, horned helmet. The prince smirked.  
"What's your name?" the prince asked. Lucas clenched his fists.  
"Loki. Loki Laufeyson!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Please Read and Review!**

Chapter 3:

Meanwhile, Cara trudged home. It was dark and the air had grown cold. New Mexico was usually very warm, but, at night, could get very cold as well. Cara wrapped her jacket tighter around her, but it still didn't keep the cold away. A car drove up behind her and she half-hoped to see Lucas driving it, but she turned to see Blake standing next to his jalopy of a truck.  
"Cara." He called over the truck. He waved her over. She reluctantly walked over. He ran around the front of the car and opened the passenger side door.  
"Your chariot, my lady," he said, attempting to fake charm (that he didn't have). Cara sighed and reluctantly got into the truck. Blake then ran back around and got behind the wheel.  
"I'll go ahead and drive you on home," he said.  
"Thanks, Donny."  
"So…about the hallway thing earlier," Blake started.  
"What do you mean?" Cara replied, acting as if she didn't know.  
"I know that you know. I just wanted to say…I'm sorry. I was just kidding around, but it was stupid and whatever."  
"Can…can we just forget it and act like it never happened?"  
"Yeah! Of course. I mean… she wasn't even that pretty or anything. Well…okay, she was really pretty. I mean she was totally gorgeous, but it's not like I care about stuff like that." An image of Lucas flashed to Cara's mind. She then looked at Blake.  
"Stop the car!" Cara demanded.  
"Something wrong, Carebear?" Blake asked.  
"Oh, yeah! So wrong!" Cara said, realizing how wrong she was.  
"What is it?" Blake asked, as he pulled over and stopped the truck.  
"We're done!" Cara said, in a happy and relieved way.  
"What?" Blake asked (clearly not getting it).  
"You and me! We're over!" Cara all but laughed, "It's not enough to pretend that hallway scene didn't happen, so…I'm just going to forget that you ever happened!" She threw her door open and got out of the truck. She checked her watch. It wasn't as late as she thought. Lucas would still be working! She then proceeded to run back to the university. Blake, recovering from shock, closed Cara's door, turned around and drove after her.  
"Come on, Sweetheart!" Blake called out the window.  
"No!" Cara laughed.  
"This is ridiculous! Let me take you home. You'll feel better in the morning. You're probably just tired."  
"No, I'm not. I've never felt better! Goodbye!" She turned and ran where the road stopped, so Blake couldn't follow.

She ran through the office doors and straight to Lucas's office. She expected to see the light on and the door open, but the light was off and the door was closed and locked.  
"No!" she said, trying the locked doorknob, "He's never left before ten!"  
She knocked on the door in false hope. No answer. She pounded on it in disbelief. No answer.  
"Lucas," she sighed, "I'm sorry."

She sat hopelessly outside the door for hours, but nothing changed. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door, moped inside, and sat at Lucas's desk. She noticed something on the corner of his desk. She picked it up to realize that it was a business card….his business card! With his phone number! Cara pulled out her phone and began to dial the number in.  
"What am I thinking?" she said, pressing cancel and placing the phone down, "It's one o'clock in the freaking morning!"  
A flashback of the first time she had seen Lucas laugh played in her head. Gosh, she really loved it when he laughed!  
"Screw one o'clock!" she decided, "I have to talk to him!"  
She dialed in the number and pressed the call button. She began to feel nervous as the number dialed.  
"This was a bad idea!" she thought, "What am I even gonna say!? 'Hey, I left my boyfriend because I like you, so I thought I'd call you at 1 A.M. and tell you'!? I don't think so!"  
She was about to hit cancel again, when a familiar voice answered the call.  
"Hello?" he said.  
"Umm…Lucas?" Cara said nervously.  
"Cara?" Lucas said, sounding slightly more awake.  
"Yeah, kinda…"  
"Is something wrong?"  
"No."  
"Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
"Ok-ay? Then…what is it?"  
"This is going to sound kinda dumb and…crazy."  
"Cara. It's one in the morning. Try me!"  
"Umm…sorry about that. I just...uhhh…"  
"You're sure you're alright?"  
"Yeah. I…I just…wanted to talk to you."  
Silence.  
"L-Lucas?"

Loki stood in the midst of about forty unconscious S.H.E.I.L.D. agents. He had planned the break-in perfectly and it had succeeded. What he didn't plan for was this tired girl calling him at this time in the morning. He stood there, with the phone, at a complete loss for words.  
"L-Lucas?" she stuttered nervously over the phone. She sounded scared and sad. He knew that he should say something, and he wanted to, but no sound came from his open mouth. That is, until he heard crying over the phone. He felt a strong, protective instinct take hold. It hurt him deeply to hear her upset.  
"Cara." he said, forcing himself to talk.  
"Y-yeah?" Cara said, trying to hide the fact that she had cried.  
"You…want to talk…to me?"  
"Yeah."  
"Is there somewhere that we could talk?"  
"Izzy's is open…but-"  
"Twenty minutes…and don't you dare be late!" He laughed kindly.  
He then ended the call. Cara had never been more thankful that Izzy's Diner had switched to twenty-four hour service. She grabbed her things and ran out the door.

Cara walked in the door of Izzy's Diner exactly twenty minutes later. Lucas was sitting at one of the booths. The only waitress on duty recognized Cara and pointed her over to the table. Lucas stood as soon as he saw Cara. He wanted to run to her and pull her into his arms, but still expected that she would push him away and say she was taken. He kept his distance as Cara walked over and sat down.  
"Umm…hi," she said feeling kind of awkward.  
"Hello. What was is you wanted to talk-" he started as he sat down.  
"I left Blake and I really just needed to talk to you!"  
"Right to the problem then."  
"I am so sorry for calling you and having you come out here and I know…It's totally pathetic, but I ju-" She was cut off by Lucas leaning over the table and, once again, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. She didn't want to, but (as he feared) she backed out of the kiss. He leaned back and sighed. After a moment of awkward silence, he stood, grabbed his jacket, and walked away. Cara stood and walked after him.  
"Wait, don't go," she said, unsure of what to do.  
"I'm sorry," he replied as he stopped, "I suppose that I just don't know when to give up. I get the message." He continued walking away.  
"I'm sorry!" Cara said, still trying to stop him, "Everything's been really crazy lately and…I just don't know what to think anymore!" Lucas stopped and turned back to her.  
"And it's my fault," Lucas said, stopping, but not looking back.  
"No. It was time for a change and that's why I called you. I need to know something."  
"What?"  
"Why did you give me that train ticket?"  
"Because that's when I knew," Lucas sighed.  
"Knew what?" Cara persisted.  
"That's when I knew that I loved you."  
"That's all I wanted to hear," Cara smiled.  
"But…I thought…with you and Blake…"  
"There is no me and that loser."  
"What?"  
"I left. I broke it off and left."  
"Why?"  
"Because he wasn't you," Cara stated, before pulling Lucas down into another kiss. The kiss lasted for a while before he broke it off. This time in a more comfortable silence.  
"What does this mean for us?" Lucas asked.  
"I don't know. Honestly, I couldn't care less right now," Cara laughed pulling him back into the kiss.

The next day went more comfortably, aside from the fact that there was nothing Cara could focus on, aside from Lucas. He brought her coffee as he often did, but spent a little bit longer at her desk when he gave it to her. In the same way, she would hang around his desk a little too long when she gave him a paper for something. The next few days went on much the same.

Friday rolled back around and plans were in motion to "kidnap" Cara for a girl's night out.  
"I'm tellin' ya, Jamie, the gal's not gonna come!" Brooke insisted.  
"That's why we aren't giving her a choice," Jamie stated proudly.  
"Somethin's wrong with you, hon."  
"Eh, maybe."  
"Anyhow, we can't go talk to her now. She's workin'!"  
"I'll be she's working real hard," Jamie giggled (hinting at the last time they saw her at "work") Brooke couldn't help but to laugh as well.  
"Come on, she really is."  
"Let's go see that I'm right," Jamie said, walking toward the offices. They arrived at Lucas's office to find the door closed. They peered through the small window in the door to see Cara and Lucas wrapped up in another deep kiss.  
"I told you so," Jamie boasted. Brooke just laughed again.

When lunch time rolled around, Cara went to sit with Jamie and Brooke, as she did every day. She sat down casually to have them start giggling. She ignored it for a minute, but when it didn't stop she grew irritated.  
"What is it today?" Cara said, rather unenthusiastically.  
"Three time thing, huh?" Brooke laughed.  
"How do you two find out about this stuff!?" Cara demanded, standing up defensively. This drew more attention than she would have liked …including the attention of Lucas. He walked over to the table. Cara quickly sat down and pretended she hadn't freaked.  
"Hey, Professor Laufeyson," Jamie greeted him.  
"Hello," he said kindly, "Is…everything alright over here?" He looked at Cara specifically.  
"Yeah, perfect!" Cara said quickly and defensively.  
"Wanna sit with us for lunch?" Jamie offered.  
Cara was horrified at the thought of her friends and Lucas…in the same place.  
"I would be glad to," Lucas replied (much to Cara's dismay). He sat down right next to Cara, put his arm around her, and kissed the side of her face.  
"Why? Why would you do that?" Cara asked.  
"Because you're so cute when you're mad at me," Lucas laughed.  
Jamie and Brooke looked at each other and then right at Cara.  
"Here we go," Cara sighed.  
"So, I take it discretion's not a big issue with you two," Brooke guessed.  
"Apparently not anymore," Cara grumbled.  
"Why would that matter? People's opinions aren't enough to keep me from loving Cara," Lucas said sweetly, using the arm around her waist to pull Cara closer.  
"You have no shame," Cara laughed.  
"None at all," Lucas agreed.  
"So…umm…" Brooke said, in attempt to relieve the awkwardness.  
"Tell us everything!" Jamie demanded happily.  
"Yeah," Brooke agreed.  
"I'm not sure it's the best idea to tell you everything," Lucas grinned.  
Cara sank down and hid, to the point where she was almost under the table. Jamie and Brooke giggled at the thought of what Cara and Lucas might or might not be hiding.  
"He's exaggerating," Cara said in a defense attempt.  
Before Lucas could say anything more, Blake walked up to the table and sat down on the other side of Cara. Lucas was less shocked than appalled at the nerve of that man to sit here. He glared subtly, yet directly at Blake. Blake simply ate his lunch happily.  
"Hi, Carebear," he chimed draping his arm around Cara's shoulders. Cara made no attempt to acknowledge him being there. It was a step too far for Lucas's self control when Blake turned to Cara and kissed her. Cara sat frozen (not in a good way), while Brooke and Jamie were picturing what Blake's tombstone would look like. Lucas slowly stood from his seat.  
"Cara," he said sternly, "I wish to see you in my office for a moment."  
Cara unfroze her thoughts and slowly followed Lucas. Blake grew furious and followed them from a distance. Brooke and Jamie then took off after him.

Lucas gently pulled Cara into his office and slammed the door shut. He then pulled Cara into his arms and captured her mouth in a forceful kiss.  
"Is that the only reason you wanted to see me?" Cara asked nervously.  
"I wanted to see you, because I would have been fired for beating that pig!" Lucas almost snarled, looking back at the door.  
"He's just being a loser," Cara stated, "He'll knock it off eventually."  
"Eventually isn't good enough!" Lucas growled.  
"You're starting to scare me…" Cara said, pulling herself from his grasp.

Meanwhile, outside, Jamie and Brooke caught up to Blake and cut in front if him.  
"What the heck, Donny?" Jamie demanded.  
"What did I do?!"  
"You were bein' a tool!" Brooke stated bluntly.  
"Don't tell me you don't think that there's something fishy about that guy!" Blake said, pointing toward Lucas's office.  
"There's nothing wrong with him!" Jamie insisted.  
"Think about it!" Blake went on, "He just got the job out of nowhere, then he randomly offers Cara a job, and now he hangs all over her!"  
"She hangs around him, because he's not a jerk!"  
"Look! There's something going on and I'm gonna find out what!" Blake spat as he stormed away. Brook and Jamie hurried to Lucas's office to let him know about Blake's suspicion. They opened the door to find Lucas, once again, holding Cara close in a sweet kiss.  
"Wow. Ya'll never get tired of that, do ya?" Brooke stated flatly.  
Lucas broke the kiss suddenly, realizing that they were no longer alone, and laughed nervously.  
"I was going to warn you that Blake is totally onto you two, but you seem a little busy!" Jamie laughed.  
The two girls backed out of the doorway and closed the door. Lucas looked at Cara who he was still holding.  
"I think we've done enough today. What do you say we call it a day and go home?" Lucas laughed.

Lucas slammed the door of the crummy apartment that he was hiding out in for now. It was dark and dank there. The windows were cracked and didn't open, the television didn't work, and the landlord was always next door screaming at someone. He was a king! He deserved better than this! It was time to make his move…now! He would delay the process no longer. He would be rightful king! And he would take Cara as his queen! He would not be stopped this time. He waved his hand and his suit jacket and shirt glowed gold until a leather tunic had taken its place. To accomplish his plan, he would need to visit some old friends at SHIELD. He looked out into the room, and in a flash there stood a likeness of himself. He realized that to make this work, he couldn't send himself. With Blake on his trail, he could risk no mistakes. He looked at his double, and, with a flick of his wrist, the scars that matched his own disappeared. The hair on hid double became ever so slightly shorter and it curled more. The copy's hair was a slightly lighter shade of blue and his smile was far more genuine.  
"Your name is Dorian," Loki stated, "You are the twin brother of Lucas Laufeyson. You will be covering for me in my class. Yes?"  
"Yes," answered Dorian.  
"You have my memory and my intelligence," Loki explained, "You know what you have to do. I have other…'business' to attend to."

Dorian walked to Izzy's diner after leaving the apartment. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a blue dress shirt with the sleeves partly rolled up. These clothes, he got from his "brother". He walked into Izzy's and sat down at the counter (purposely avoiding a rather burly and grotesque biker). A familiar looking waitress with a blonde pony-tail walked up to him.  
"Lucas?" she asked hesitantly.  
"Umm…not quite," he said, turning to her, "You must be Cara. My name is Dorian. Lucas is my older twin brother. He talks about you a lot."  
"Oh, I'm sorry. He…never mentioned a brother."  
"He's very quiet about a lot. He certainly can't keep quiet about you."  
"You in town visiting or do you live here?"  
"Visiting. Lucas and I studied mythology together and he was hoping I could cover a few classes for him. I trust that means that we will be working together."  
"Yeah," Cara said with a friendly smile, "It'll be nice having you around."

After he had ordered and finished a small meal there, he walked toward the door. As soon as he swung it open, he could hear a 'thud'. He looked in a sense of almost horror as he realized that the 'thud' was the sound of the door knocking over a young girl. He shut the door and went over to her.  
"I am so sorry!" he said, checking to see if she was alright, "Are you alright."  
"I'm okay," the girl smiled, "and a world-class klutz. It was my fault really."  
He subtly noticed the girl staring at him for some time. He couldn't help but wonder why. His main priority, however, was to see if she was okay.  
"Are you certain?" he asked, helping her up. She nodded.  
"Good," he sighed, "Once again, so sorry!"  
"Oh, you're fine," the girl reassured, "Trust me, I've had worse."  
"Well, I guess I'll see you around," she said after an odd silence.  
"Goodbye," he said politely.

While Loki's double played teacher, the mischief god himself had work to do elsewhere. He sat, deep in thought, back at the small, trashy apartment. He had two choices to make. He could go forward with his plan to reclaim the Tesseract…or he could fall back to his other resort. The other plan would have never occurred to him without Cara. The way she saw Lucas gave him reason to rethink his strategies. He could go back to what he was, steal the Tesseract, kill for attention, and end up defeated…or he could change the game entirely! Either way, he had to try something and fast! He grew bored playing this mortal professor and longed for a challenge and for a spotlight. He would try what he would never have imagined doing, and when it backfired on him…he would have grounds for a new, more dangerous war!

**So...sorry about the awkward insertion of a Loki clone. It was written by a friend, so I wrote him in by request. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

An alarm blared in Cara's ear once more. She reached for her alarm clock, but grumbled when the noise didn't stop. She then realized that the sound was music, and that it blared from her phone, not her clock. She picked up the phone and held it above her head. She was still laying down from a not-long-enough night's sleep, so she wasn't about to sit up for anyone's call. The name on the phone read "Lucas", so she answered it with a sleepy "hello".  
"Good morning," said a familiar, smooth accent.  
"The 'good' part of morning doesn't happen until after eleven o'clock!" Cara grumbled. A deep, happy laugh met her through the phone. She involuntarily smiled at the sound.  
"I wanted to let you know that I will not be coming in to the university today," Lucas stated, in a tone that was barely more awake than Cara's. His voice was deeper and rougher when he was tired. Cara found it extremely cute for some reason.  
"So, I take it Dorian's covering for you and you want me to go in and help."  
"Yes, he is covering for me, but…"  
"What?"  
"I don't want you to go in today."  
"Why not?"  
"Because I have better plans for us. I'll come and pick you up in thirty minutes. Be ready."  
"What if I say no?" Cara pondered.  
"I'm sorry, but when did I give you a choice?" Lucas laughed mischievously. The call ended rather abruptly. Cara rolled out of bed with a resounding 'thump'. She then untangled herself from the tangled mass of blankets and pillows that fell with her.

About fifteen minutes later, there was a loud knock on her door. She was still getting ready, because she wasn't expecting company for a quarter of an hour yet. She, without thinking first, ran to the door, but it had already been opened. Lucas was sitting quietly on Cara's couch.  
"Come on in?" Cara said with partial surprise at him just coming in and partial sarcasm. She then mentally noted in horror that she had just gotten out of a shower. She glanced down at herself to find nothing but a towel wrapped around her and a hair brush in hand. Her face would normally have turned red, but all the color drained from it. Lucas sat on the arm of the sofa, perfectly put together as he always was, and smiled at her. He stood and walked over to her. She stood frozen, desperately trying to think of an explanation for her interesting…fashion statement.  
"I…I can explain this," she stuttered.  
"No need," Lucas said, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. He pulled her into a long, gentle kiss. Cara couldn't bring herself to say anything, so she remained silent.  
"I rather like your new look," he whispered into her ear, "I hope to see it more often." Cara could feel color return to her face, bright red color.  
"Run along and get ready," Lucas grinned, "We have a long day ahead of us, and, not that I would mind, you may wish to wear more than a towel."  
Cara hurried back to her room and threw on the cutest outfit that she could throw together and then pulled her hair back into a ponytail. After she ran back out to the living room. She then realized that, rather than his usual suit, Lucas wore black jeans and had a green dress shirt that's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Cara liked this look very much.  
"Ready to go?" he said, mustering the sweetest smile he had.  
"Yeah, but…where are we going?" Cara asked happily.  
"That's for me to know and you to find out," he stated playfully.

Rather than driving, they walked from Cara's apartment. Cara briefly wondered how he got there without a car, but she figured that it couldn't be that hard in a town this small. They walked for a while in a comfortable silence. Lucas had offered his arm when they departed, so Cara still held on to it. She happily leaned against the arm that she was holding. Eventually, he pulled his arm from her grasp and wrapped it around her waist, holding her to his side. She rested her head on his shoulder and they walked on.

At the same time, Blake and Shane had wondered out of Izzy's Diner. They were walking back to Blake's car, when they noticed their Norse Mythology professor walking with his arm tightly around Cara's waist.  
"Thought you could get away with taking her from me!?" Blake muttered under his breath. He knew how much trouble Laufeyson could get in, for this type of behavior. What he didn't know, however, was how much more trouble Laufeyson would get him in for this! He motioned for Shane to follow him and they quietly followed the couple.

"Close your eyes," Lucas whispered to Cara. She closed her eyes hesitantly. He carefully led her to where they were going and used it as an excuse to hold her closer. Finally they stopped walking.  
"Alright. Open." he said sweetly.  
Cara opened her eyes to first see a sign for a town fair and then look over the sign to see the lights and fun of booths with games and rides. To her happiness, she saw only a few other people there. Most were at jobs or classes, so there were scarcely any lines.  
"Surprise," Lucas chuckled.  
"Wow," was all that Cara could manage to say. She grabbed Lucas's hand and pulled him toward the nearest carnival booth. They went from booth to booth playing games, laughing, and having fun. Cara could never seem to win any of the difficult games, but Lucas would always step in and win her whatever she wanted. After all the games, there were the rides. A small Ferris wheel, an arena set up with bumper cars, and a scrambler ride. They rode the latter first and then rode the Ferris wheel a few times after. Cara always laid her head on Lucas's shoulder on the ride. A few dozen rides, games, and cones of cotton candy later, the sky began to grow dark, little by little.  
"Gosh," Cara said, noticing the sun sinking away, "How long have we been out here?" Lucas simply shrugged. He had a large bag over his shoulder, full of all of the prizes that he had won for Cara. The favorite of these was a soft, green and gold dragon that had blue eyes. Cara held onto this one herself. She loved holding it and it, for some odd reason, reminded her of Lucas.  
"Are you ready for part two of our evening?" Lucas asked sweetly.  
"Part two?" Cara inquired, wondering how this evening could possibly get better. They walked from the fair and for a little while through the town. The sun going down painted the town a beautiful orange-yellow color. Cara sighed and leaned back into Lucas as they walked. Cara was unaware to the fact that Blake and Shane still followed them, as they had been throughout the whole carnival. Lucas, however, was not so easily fooled.  
"Man, drop it! Let's go!" Shane whined, eager to get home.  
"Not until that idiot professor leaves my girlfriend alone!" Blake snapped defiantly. They continued to follow in silence.

Cara once again closed her eyes and opened them to find another surprise. A picnic blanket, laid out with food and flower petals. All kinds of foods that Cara loved happily greeted their sight. Cara stood speechless, but turned back to give Lucas a sweet kiss. He guided her to the blanket and they sat down. He pointed to the horizen and smiled. Cara looked to see the most beautiful view of the sunset that she had ever seen. So many colors streaked the sky, but for some odd reason green was the most prominent. Beautiful shades of emerald green painted the sky. Cara looked back at Lucas. The green color of the sky reflected beautifully in his light blue eyes. It almost made them look just as green.  
"This is incredible!" Cara said, unable to stop smiling.  
"I'm so glad you like it," Lucas sighed.  
"Is…is this a date?"  
"Considering that I brought you here involuntarily this morning…I'd say that it was more akin to a kidnapping, but yes. This is a date."  
Cara laughed and leaned back against his chest. The sun sank below the horizon and its light faded. The only light left was the thousands of beautiful stars that loomed overhead. Lucas quickly flicked his wrist up and candles around them, that Cara didn't even know were there, sprang to life with a beautiful flame on each one.  
"How did you do that?" Cara insisted to know.  
"An old magic trick," Lucas stated plainly.  
"Do you know any more?" Cara giggled. Lucas held his wrist to his shoulder and then flicked it downward toward the blanket. A beautiful white rose was now sitting delicately in his hand. He gently placed the flower in Cara's hair.  
"That's all I've got," Lucas laughed.  
"Wow!" Cara exclaimed, as she played with the flower in her hair.  
They sat on the blanket and talked and ate for some time. Suddenly, footsteps approached the blanket. Lucas looked up at the incoming figures with a poisonous smile.  
"Don't let us interrupt your little party," Blake laughed sharply.  
"Yeah," Shane said, trying (yet failing) to seem tough.  
"Evening, maggots," Lucas said with a false, kind tone that made Blake's knees shake, for reasons he didn't understand.  
"Donny, get lost!" Cara demanded.  
"Don't suppose you have enough food to share, do ya?" Blake chuckled.  
"As a matter of fact, we do," Lucas stated. He picked up a pie tray from the blanket and stood up.  
"I know how much you wanted to try this dish," he said to Cara, "But our guests are hungry and it would be rude to deny them our hospitality." Lucas smiled sweetly at Blake and then showed the entire pie-plate into his face.  
"Are you happy now, you pathetic little insect?!" Lucas snarled. His tone of voice made Shane back away from the blanket and keep a decent distance. Blake threw a strong punch at Lucas, but Lucas carelessly caught it in a fist. Cara could hear the bones crack together in Blake's hand as Lucas even slightly tightened his grip. He gently pushed Blake's fist back, which send the pie-covered boy flying through the air and landing a good thirty feet away.  
"Hey, man," Shane started, "We didn't come here to fight or nothing."  
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Lucas sneered.  
Shane looked over at Blake, who was unable to stand up, and then ran back toward the town. Blake got up and stumbled back toward Lucas. Lucas quickly spun and socked Blake so hard in the jaw that he flew back farther than before. When he recovered from this (enough to stand anyway), Blake stumbled away into the dark of night. Cara and Lucas spent the rest of their evening curled up on the blanket. Cara sat in Lucas's lap as he kissed her gently…over and over.

Cara woke up to find that she was back at her apartment. She had been carefully laid on her bed and covered up by blankets. She got up and dragged her feet to the kitchen to start on some morning coffee. She looked at the time, only to see that it was far earlier then she usually woke up. Thoughts raced through her groggy head as she tried to recall what happened yesterday. She remembered the sights of the fair and the beautiful sunset over the horizon. She smiled as she remembered Blake's angry face covered in pie.  
"Perhaps it was all a dream," she thought.  
She then remembered what happened before she fell asleep. She had been sitting on Lucas's lap after their picnic. He held her closely as she laid her head on his shoulder and began to fade into a happy sleep. She shut her eyes and sighed happily. Before Loki could think about his next words, a quiet "I love you" spilled from his lips. He had thought that maybe Cara was asleep, so she wouldn't have noticed, but she remembered it vividly. She loved the memory, but still had doubts.  
"It's too good to have been true," she sighed.  
She poured some of the coffee into a glass that was half full of ice and creamer. She put the coffee pot down and glanced out of the kitchen and into the living room. Sitting on the couch was a large number of prizes and stuffed animals. The one that sat in the middle was Cara's favorite, the green and gold dragon. She set her coffee down and walked over to the couch. She then picked up the sweet looking dragon and cuddled it closely.  
"You're very fond of that little thing, are you not?" said a familiar voice from behind her. She turned to see Lucas, standing in the front door, with a bag in his hand.  
"I thought you left," said Cara, putting the dragon back down on the couch.  
"I did," Lucas said, "But then I came back…with breakfast."  
He held up the paper bag in his hand to prove his point.  
"Oh, ummm…thank you," Cara said quietly.  
Lucas moved over by the couch and carefully shoveled the prizes to one side of the couch. He then sat on the open end of the couch. He motioned for Cara to come and sit with him. She sat down next to him and, as she did, he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arm around her back.  
"Hungry?" he asked, using his free hand to open the paper bag.  
It smelled like really good, drive-thru breakfast sandwiches. Cara adored drive-thru breakfast! Lucas pulled out and unwrapped a bagel that appeared to have egg, bacon, and cheese on it. Cara drooled over the heavenly sight. Lucas held the sandwich up to her and she took a big bite of it. She then reached up and took the rest of the sandwich from him. He pulled out another bagel and munched away happily at his. Cara sat, curled up next to him, holding her yummy bagel and wondering how this morning could get any better…then her phone went off.  
"I knew it was to good to be true!" she grumbled.  
"What was?" Lucas asked, mouth half full of breakfast bagel (this made Cara laugh pretty hard)  
"An uninterrupted breakfast," she laughed, brushing a piece of bagel off of Lucas's chin. She picked up her phone to check the message. The message was from Blake, which alone made Cara gag, and it read: "Hey, Babe. Need a ride to class today?" She let out a low growl at the message. Lucas, having read the message over her shoulder, realized that she did probably need a ride to the university. The problem was…he neither had a car, nor could he drive one! He wasn't even entirely sure what a car was! He always teleported everywhere or took the train. Now, he had no way to get Cara to class normally. Cara was angrily typing: "No thanks, Pig-face!" onto the keypad over her phone (a message meant for Blake obviously). She looked up at Lucas and smiled.  
"All taken care of," she chimed, "Now, back to cute, romantic, cuddly breakfast!" She cuddled back into Lucas's side and munched away at her bagel once more.  
"Why don't we just walk to the university today," Lucas said, trying to be subtle and not scream "I don't have a freaking car!".  
"Um…why?" Cara asked. Lucas's mind raced to find an excuse.  
"I want to spend more time with you," he smiled, "After all, you can't get in trouble with you teacher for being late if he's right here."  
"True," Cara nodded, "Okay."

After an unnecessarily long breakfast and a long, slow walk, Cara and Lucas reached the university. They walked into Lucas's office and Cara threw her bag into her desk chair.  
"Dorian is in the middle of the class right now, so we can't just walk in," Cara started, "What are we going to do until the class ends?"  
"I have a few pretty good ways to kill time," Lucas grinned.  
He grabbed Cara's arm and pulled her into, yet another, long kiss. At the very same time, Brooke walked in the office door.  
"Umm….mornin' guys," she chuckled nervously.  
"Hey!" Cara said, instantly breaking the kiss and acting as if nothing happened. She laughed awkwardly, but it only made the situation worse.  
"I really need to start closing that bloody door!" Lucas sighed.  
"Umm…what are you doing here?" Cara asked awkwardly.  
"Jamie forgot her notebook, so just gimme the notes and we all pretend nothin' ever happened. Deal?" Brooke stated, attempting to get away from the awkward what-happens-in-the-office-needs-to-stay-in-the-office moment.  
Cara went and grabbed Jamie's notebook and handed it to Brook, who just backed out of the office slowly. Cara closed the door and turned back to Lucas.  
"You were saying?" she said innocently.  
Lucas laughed and pulled her back into another kiss. Just when it seemed that this kiss was actually going to work, Cara's phone went off. She broke off the kiss and checked her phone. Another message from Blake marked that he wasn't really paying attention to class. She hit 'delete' and tossed her phone across the room into her desk chair. Just when she turned back she was pulled back into Lucas. He was just a hair away from kissing her again when a loud bell rang, signaling that the current block of classes was over. He shook it off and leaned back in for the kiss, and the office door swung open.  
"Really?!" Lucas yelled in the general direction of the door that so vexed him. Dorian and Jamie stood in the doorway, wondering what they did to freak him out.  
"Hi, guys," Cara chirped over Lucas's shoulder (barely).  
Jamie walked over and immediately started interrogating Cara about why she went missing for a day and then came in really late the next. Lucas walked over to Dorian and Dorian shot him a 'you're loosing focus' glare. Lucas ignored this look looked over at Cara.  
"Cara, I'm going to run a few errands, but I'll be back soon," He said.  
"Alright, be safe," Cara smiled.  
Lucas walked out the door, down the hall, and vanished into a cloud of green fog.

He reappeared in a less friendly setting than the office was: the dark streets of a foreign country. The streets of Latveria were dark, dank, and depressing. Loki hated to look and smell of the place altogether. As he walked toward the capital building, his suit and dark green dress shirt faded into fine, gold and green Asgardian armor. His black hair was covered by the appearance of a regal gold helm with two large horns coming from its front. A large staff with blades coming from its head appeared in his hand.

When he made his way to the large castle at the center of the city, the guards ran up to him and tried to stop him from entering. He waved his free hand and the guards flew back and hit the stone wall of the fortress-like building with a loud "crunch". He held his staff toward the heavy gates of the building. When he jerked the staff back, the gates blew apart and he continues his leisurely stroll into the castle. More guards attempted to stop him, but their fate was much like the fate of the guards at the gate. He strolled right into the main room of the building and he met the sight of a massive thrown with a large "V" above it. In the thrown sat a man with grey armor and a hooded, dark green cape. The man's face was covered by a metal mask, but his glare could clearly be seen from under the mask.  
"Victor Von Doom, I suppose," Loki guessed.  
"And you are?" the metal clad ruler snarled.  
"Loki, god of mischief, at my own service," Loki laughed poisonously.  
"What is your business here?" Von Doom demanded.  
"I have come with glad tidings…and a proposition for you."  
"I'll hear you out."  
"I have knowledge of a powerful weapon, but I am in need of an…ally, so to speak. I have power you need and you have resources that I need. I see no problem in taking advantage of this happy coincidence. After all, we both know, after the last attempts, that neither of us can bypass SHIELD alone. The heroes have friends, so I dare say you could do with some."  
"And…your target?" Doom asked, growing more intrigued.  
"If you destroy SHEILDS golden boys, the Avengers, then any target becomes available and this world will fall back into order…our order."  
"And this 'power' you speak of using?" Doom laughed in disbelief.  
Loki stretched his hand forward and turned his palm upward. In a flash, a glowing blue cure appeared in his hand. The light that it emitted was almost unbearable to look straight at.  
"I present to you the Tesseract," Loki grinned, "An unlimited source of self-sustaining power. With your technology and my knowledge of the weapon, we will use this to fix this broken world…once and for all!"  
"I accept," Doom stated proudly.

It had been hours since Lucas left the office to run "a few errands" and Cara grew more and more worried about him. She had long since finished her work for the day, but she paced back and fourth across the office waiting for Lucas. Dorian had offered to by Jamie dinner at a little local restaurant, so Cara said that she would stay behind and wait for Lucas. She finally sat down at Lucas's desk and pulled out her phone. She called Lucas, and, to her surprise, the desk that she was sitting at started ringing. She opened the top drawer of the desk and in the drawer was Lucas's laptop and his righing phone. She ended the call and sighed. She couldn't call him if his phone was here! She did notice something odd. His computer was in the desk drawer, but it wasn't closed or turned off. It was partially open and still running. She carefully pulled it out and set it on the top of his desk. She opened it further and the screen turned on. The screen was showing a bunch of jumbling numbers, as if it were trying to find a certain sequence of them. Suddenly, the numbers stopped scrolling and green words reading "Access Granted" appeared on the screen. The screen turned grey with a black logo in the middle. The logo was an odd looking Eagle. Around the eagle it read "Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division". The bottom of the logo was the word SHEILD. There were various icons for files that appeared on the screen. Cara, being overly curious as is, clicked on one of the files. The file opened numerous pictures and documents that all overlapped on the screen. The pictures were of this odd looking blue cube. She closed the folder and clicked on one next to it. More pictures, files, and graphs opened on the screen. She glanced through, but saw nothing of interest. When she was about to close the file, a video popped up at the front of all the other open files. Cara clicked on it and it played security footage from outside of a big building in Germany. The footage seemed boring until someone familiar stepped into the middle of the security footage unknowingly. It was…Lucas! He walked around in a very nice suit, holding an odd looking cane of some sort. The end of the cane almost seemed to glow. He walked inside of the large building, until the security camera followed him not further. A few more minutes of boring security footage passed before the tape showed a large mass of people running out of the building in a panic and screaming. That's when the camera went fuzzy. The file disappeared and Cara closed the folder, so that all other files from the desktop screen disappeared. She slammed the laptop closed and put it back in the drawer. Right as the drawer slammed shut, the office door opened. Lucas walked in, but stopped when he saw Cara.  
"Still here?" he asked glancing at her and then around the room.  
"Yeah," Cara said holding up his phone from the top of his desk, "I couldn't call you, so I got worried and stayed here just in case."  
"I appreciate your concern, but you look exhausted. You had better head home and get some rest," Lucas suggested sweetly.  
"Yeah," Cara nodded nervously.  
She stood and grabbed her things. The next second she was out the door and gone. She had tried to hide the fact that she was shaking by carrying her jacket draped over her hands, but she wasn't sure it worked.

As soon as Cara disappeared around the corner, Lucas's fake smile faded away. He opened the drawer of his desk and pulled the computer out. He opened it and the SHIELD logo came up. He noticed something odd though. There was a file already open. He pulled the file up and the video footage from Germany replayed. As soon as he saw himself on the old footage, he slammed his fist down on the desk (shaking everything in the room) and cursed in some old Norse language. He quickly grabbed his things and followed Cara's trail to catch up to her, before she got away. She was still leaving the university, so Loki forced a kind smile and ran to catch up with her.  
"Cara!" Lucas called after her, happily.  
"Umm…yeah?" she stuttered nervously, turning around.  
Lucas walked up beside her and put his arm around her.  
"Let me walk you home," he insisted, "It's late and dark and you shouldn't be out here on your own. You've got quite a walk from here to your apartment."  
"Umm…no. That's alright," Cara said speeding up slightly.  
Lucas sped up to match her pace. He couldn't let her go around thinking that he was some creep being monitored by the government.  
"Really, darling," he persisted, "Just let me walk you there."  
"Lucas, I'm fine." Cara protested as she sped up more.  
Lucas matched her pace. Her mind raced as she practically jogged home. Why would some unknown government people be watching Lucas? Did he have anything to do with all of the people running and screaming? Maybe he was a terrorist or just completely psychotic!  
"It's just like you to fall for some creepy, psycho guy who's being chased by the government, Cara!" she thought to herself. She sped up even more and more. Lucas continually matched her pace.

After a while of this, she saw her apartment building and slowed down. Lucas walked up to her and stopped her by pulling her into his arms.  
"What's upset you so much that you would practically run from me?!" he asked, highly concerned about her involvement in this.  
"It's nothing!" she lied as she tried to free herself from his grasp.  
"Cara, it's me! Why are you pushing me away?"  
Cara calmed down and looked at Lucas. She realized that he was right. It was still her Lucas. The Lucas that had taken her on a picnic and brought her iced coffee every day. It just terrified her that she had no idea who he really was. Did she really know him at all? She pulled away and quickly walked to har apartment.  
"I just don't know anymore!" she called back as she ran inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucas drug his feet through the door of the office the next day. Dorian sat at Lucas desk reading the morning newspaper. It was still early, so Jamie had not come in yet. Lucas looked at his watch and sighed. Cara had always come in earlier than this. At this poin the didn't expect that she would come back at all. He dropped his bag on the floor and dropped his jacket on top of it. He then sat on the edge of his desk and stared at the door.  
"You know, if you included me in your plans, we might be more productive," Dorian noted, still looking at the paper.  
"What plans?" Loki sighed.  
"The plan we've been working toward since your 'punishment' in Asgard, after your last defeat."  
"There has been a change in the plan. Our goals have changed."  
"No matter what plan it is, there will always be one problem," Dorian pointed out. He looked up from the paper and tossed it onto the desk. On the front of the paper was a massive picture of the Avengers. The caption read: "Avengers Stop Invasion".  
"They won't be a problem…not anymore," Loki sighed, "Let's face it, brother…we've lost. They defeated us at every scheme, every plan, every fight! We've lost! We're done! Or are we?"  
"You said that we haven't lost. You swore we'd never lose to them!"  
"And we won't, brother. There's an old Migardian saying that comes to mind."  
Before Loki could finish his thought, Jamie strolled in and happily greeted them.  
"Morning guys!" she chimed.  
"Good morning!" Dorian said, with a large, happy smile appearing on his face. He stood from his chair and walked over to her. He then gently took her hand and placed a kiss on it. Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes. He then reclaimed his desk and pretended to work on something.  
"Where's Cara?" Jamie asked.  
"I very highly doubt that she's coming back," Lucas sighed.  
"What do you mean?" Jamie asked, "She works here."  
"I mean, that the last time I saw her she was all but running from me! She refused to speak to me! And she didn't want to come back! That is what I mean! So, if you don't mind, I would like to get work done without having to answer ridiculous questions!" Lucas said, his voice building to a yell as he spoke. Dorian shot him a warning glare, but Lucas shot his back. They held their stares until Dorian could no longer hold Loki's death glare. His gaze dropped to the floor. Jamie looked back and fourth between the two of them and back away a few steps.  
"Brother…" Dorian started.  
"Get out!" Lucas abruptly yelled, before Dorian could speak further.  
Dorian took a shocked Jamie by the arm and walked her out of the room. They walked on to the classroom and neither could say anything.

When Lucas didn't come out of his office, Dorian went ahead and taught the next Mythology class for him. Jamie was still shaken from seeing Lucas so angry, but she shook most of it off. After the class ended, Dorian went to Lucas's office to find that Lucas was already gone. He sighed and sat back down at Lucas's desk. The lights in the office were turned off, but he didn't care. He sat there in the darkness and silence of the empty office.

The next day, Cara woke up with this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt terrible for having treated Lucas the way she did. She just didn't know what to think about him. She decided the best thing to do would be to go in to work and talk to him. She quickly went back to the train station where she had met him originally and got a ride on the same short ride that went downtown. When she reached the university offices, she ran in and right to Lucas's door. The odd thing was that the name "Lucas Laufeyson" was no longer on the door. She tried to open the door, but it was locked.  
"That's weird," she thought, "He never locks the door."  
She pulled out her key and opened to door. She froze in the doorway when she flipped on the lights and saw nothing but an empty office. There was no furniture, save for two old, empty bookshelves and an old desk that didn't resemble Lucas's in the slightest. She turned the lights back off and ran to the front office of the university. She walked up to the secretary at the front office.  
"Has Professor Laufeyson come in yet, today?" Cara asked the woman.  
"Who?" the woman replied.  
"Professor Lucas Laufeyson," Cara restated.  
The woman checked a file on the computer that she was sitting at and then looked up at Cara and shook her head.  
"There's no record of a Laufeyson here," the woman stated.  
"He's the Norse Mythology professor!" Cara persisted.  
"Umm…the university doesn't offer a Norse Mythology class," the receptionist stated flatly, "You must be mistaken."  
Cara froze and then slowly turned around.  
"Thank you for your time," she muttered as she walked away. She walked straight back to the office and stood in the doorway, looking at the empty room.  
"Lucas…" she sighed.  
A tear rolled down the side of her face as she gazed up at the closed windows of the office. Lucas had always left the windows opened. He liked the breeze and sunlight that came from them. As she stood there, Jamie came around the corner.  
"Hey, Cara," she greeted, "Where are Lucas and Dorian?"  
"You know who they are?!" Cara said, with hope.  
"Umm…yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Jamie inquired suspiciously.  
"They're completely gone!" Cara explained.  
"What?!" Jamie panicked.  
"They're just…gone."  
"They can't just be gone!"  
"Jamie! Get Brooke and meet me out front in five minutes!" Cara demanded, "It's time for some answers!"  
Cara walked off, and Jamie split off to go and find Brooke.

Chapter 5:

"So, ya'll are sayin' that the two of 'em took off and are just gone?" Brooke inquired as her frantic friends tried to explain what had happened.  
"Umm…yeah! That's what we're saying!" Jamie panicked.  
"This is all my fault," Cara sighed.  
"How is this yer fault?" Brooke asked.  
"The other day, I found Lucas's computer," Cara started, "It had hacked into some weird government files or something. I opened a file and saw diagrams of a glowing cube thingy. Then another file opened. It was security footage from an attack in Germany…and Lucas was on it. I freaked! I wasn't sure what to do, so I hurried home. Lucas followed me out of the building and all the way home. I yelled at him and ran away. Now, I think that he might have been in some serious trouble, but that doesn't explain why none of his students or any of the other teachers even remember him…except for the three of us."  
"He could be in serious trouble or somethin'!" Brooke said, worried.  
"Could he be like a super spy or something?" Jamie asked.  
"I don't know," Cara sighed, " I just know that he's in trouble. I think it's all because of me! I have to find him and fix this!"  
"If he can drop off the map like that, I don't think it'll be too easy to find him!" Jamie noted.  
"We still have to try!" Cara insisted.  
"Is there anything else we might wanna know about these guys before we run off and look for 'em?" Brooke groaned.  
"Um…yeah," Jamie started, hesitantly, "They're not really from Earth."  
"WHAT?!" was the response from the other two girls.  
"They're from Asgard!" Jamie continued, "Dorian had to tell me."  
"That's just great…" Cara sighed, wondering if Jamie was crazy or if she was.

After more explanation from Jamie, the three went to go and start the search for the missing Asgardians. Meanwhile, there were other issues occurring. Hidden on the edge of New York, Von Doom waited patiently for his ally. With him, waited and army of androids and Latverian soldiers. In a green flash, Loki appeared before him. Loki bore his full armor, complete with his signature horned helm. Loki held, in his hand, the Tesseract. He handed the Tesseract to Doom.  
"Lead the attack," Loki ordered, "I have a loose end to tie up, and then I shall win us the city."  
Doom nodded and Loki vanished. Dooms army moved in a slowly began to tear the city apart.

Meanwhile, Loki reappeared on a rooftop overlooking the city.  
"Brother," he called quietly.  
Dorian appeared, also in some type of Asgardian garb, and stood beside Loki.  
"You called?" he mentioned.  
"You told the girl what we were. Did you not?" Loki asked.  
"I…I did…" Dorian admitted nervously.  
"I have come too far for simple mistakes! Traitor!" Loki yelled turning to Dorian. Before Dorian could react, Loki sent a blast shooting from his hand. It hit Dorian and he vanished in a green haze.  
"Farewell, my 'brother'!" Loki spat venomously at the ground where his double had previously been standing. He walked on as if nothing had ever happened.

Cara, Brooke, and Jamie reached Cara's apartment and were frantically trying to think of a way to find Lucas and Dorian. Jamie grew dizzy watching Cara pace, so she walked over to the couch and plopped down. As soon as she slumped down onto the couch, she could tell that she sat on something. The TV flickered on and Jamie realized that she had plopped down on the remote. She took the remote and aimed it to turn the TV off, when she looked at the screen and saw something that she hadn't expected! New York City was under attack!  
"Guys!" she shrieked to Cara and Brooke.  
They ran over and looked at the TV.  
"Well, that ain't good…" Brooke stated flatly.  
Cara was unsure of what to think. She was still worried about Lucas and Dorian (but secretly, mostly Lucas). An odd figure appeared on camera. He was standing on a building, overlooking the city, so the news chopper was able to get a good look. He was tall and clad in green and gold armor, with a deep green cape and a tall, golden, horned helmet. In his hand he bore an odd looking scepter. He turned toward the camera and a view of his face could be seen.  
"Oh…my…gosh," was all that poured from Jamie's mouth.  
Cara stood there with a mixed look of horror and shock. Brooke just backed away from her slowly.  
"Come on," Cara was finally able to say.  
"Where are we going?" Jamie asked, in surprise that Cara would want to leave.  
"We're going to New York."

In New York, Doom's forces proved to be relentless. They attacked and destroyed every building that they were aimed at. Loki stood high above the wreckage until he had decided that this was enough. He vanished from the roof top and searched for his old "friends", the Avengers. At first sight off a red and gold streak across the sky, he could tell that Iron Man led the charge and the rest were on their way.  
"Perfect," he grinned to himself, as he followed the trail that Stark's newest battle suit left. He knew that following shortly behind would be a SHIELD jet and his…"brother". At this point, Doom's forces had the city in terror and Loki was on top. He wouldn't fail….not again! Never again! He walked leisurely toward the incoming Avengers. As soon as he was sure that Iron Man saw him. He stood still and smiled at the metal hero.

A mere moment later, Stark landed down in front of him and pointed the repulsers, that were the suit's main weapon, right at Loki's smiling face.  
"Alright, Loki!" Stark barked at him through the helmet, "Give it up!"  
"Dear Mr. Stark," Loki purred, "What kind of a greeting is that?"  
"More than you deserve! Now give up and come along quietly. Unless…you wanna be dumb and try to resist."  
"Stark, you're smarter than that! Of course I intend to resist!" Loki snapped. With a flick of his wrist, a large scepter appeared in Loki's hand. He jerked it back and it shot a powerful blast that blew Stark clear off of the rooftop. After letting Stark tell the others that Loki was to blame for all of this, Loki disappeared and watched his victory from afar. This would be a glorious victory indeed.

The battle waged well into the next day. The Avengers got as many people as they could to safety, but the Latverian forces ripped through mile after mile of city. The heart of New York seemed to be up in flames and there weren't enough of the Avengers to slow the devastation. The only was the forces could be stopped was if Doom himself was brought down. However, the Avengers spent their time looking for a missing Loki, not even realizing where the heart of the devastation lied. It seemed that this was one fight that they couldn't win.

Meanwhile, Cara, Jamie, and Brooke made it to New York. Cara frantically attempted to think of a plan, while Brooke was trying to keep Jamie from hyperventilating. The only thing that Cara knew for certain, was that she had to see Lucas…fast! She almost didn't believe what she had seen. She needed to see this with her own eyes. The cab that they had been in, refused to take them any closer to what was happening.  
"What now?" Brooke asked.  
"We are not turning back!" Cara decided.  
She got out of the cab and ran toward the fires. Jamie and Brooke followed, but remained a safe ways away from the destruction. Cara didn't care about the fire. She didn't care about the ruble. She didn't even care about the attacking soldiers. She only cared about Lucas! Cara was not brave in the slightest, but she felt this pull that allowed her to dodge attackers and run to the middle of the devastation. She stood there and waited. She had no idea what to do, but she knew that if her heart has gotten her there safely, it would know what to do.  
"LUCAS!" she screamed up toward the sky.  
She knew he would be there. She could feel it. The soldiers in the area heard it, and she was soon surrounded by a group of them. They readied to fire, but Cara didn't seem afraid.  
"Stop," called out a cold and commanding voice.  
Cara turned around to see the gold clad figure that had been on TV. He looked like Lucas, but something just didn't feel right.  
"She comes with me," he demanded.  
The soldiers instantly went back to their original goals. Cara half wanted to run from this figure and half wanted to run to him. His stare scared her more than the army and the destruction ever could have. She tried to return his gaze, and when she did, she saw a familiar expression.  
"Kitten…" he purred slowly, and rather eerily, "You're supposed to be home. It's not exactly…safe here."  
At his last statement, he let out a cruel and dangerous laugh. It was Cara's worst fear. It really was Lucas, but the one she knew didn't seem to be there anymore.  
"L-Lucas?" she choked nervously.  
"Walk with me, love." he said plainly, "We need to have a talk."  
Cara slowly followed him, barely able to keep from shaking. The helmet that he wore slowly faded away, but the rest of the gold armor remained. She noticed that in his hand was a massive gold spear with a large blade at the end. She walked a little farther behind him at this sight. He stopped walking and turned back after a moment.  
"Look around you! What do you see?" he smiled.  
"Umm…an army destroying New York…" she said quietly.  
"You're not seeing the big picture, love!" he said proudly, as he wrapped his arm around Cara and pulled her a bit closer.  
"This is what victory looks like!" he continued, "This means that I will soon rule over all of this! This whole world will be mine, once I crush these pathetic "Avengers" and their home. Then I will be king! And you, love…you will be my queen! Forever."  
"So, you're going to become king…by killing innocent people?"  
"You're still not seeing the whole idea!" Lucas steamed.  
"No! You don't see what you're doing! Do you?" Cara panicked.  
"What?" came the confused reply. His face matched the confusion in his voice.  
"You can't rule this way!" Cara insisted.  
"Why not?" "Lucas" laughed.  
"If you destroy all of this, If you win…there won't be anything alive to rule over! There will be no point!"  
"Darling, I don't need these pathetic mortals. I have you!"  
"No! I refuse to be a part of this!" Cara yelled.  
"You don't have a choice!" he yelled back, "You will be my queen!"  
"So, you're going to do this to the whole world?!"  
"Well…yes. Beautiful, isn't it?"  
"This is my home! You can't do this!" Cara screamed.  
"Darling, I do what I want. There's nothing to be done."  
"What are you?! Why would you do this?! I…I thought I knew you."  
"Lucas wasn't real, princess. He doesn't exist. I am Loki, god of Mischief. I don't even come from you're pathetic little realm. I just needed 'Lucas' to help me get to you."  
Cara froze, desperately trying to grasp what was happening.  
"So…everything was a lie?" Cara choked out.  
"No. Just most of it." he stated coldly.  
"But…I loved him," Cara said quietly, holding back tears.  
"I know you did, sweetheart. And now you'll learn to love me."  
"No." Cara stated, looking straight into his eyes.  
"What?!" he snapped.  
"I said no. How could I ever love you? Look at what you've done! You destroyed this city and killed who knows how many people in the process! This isn't ruling! This is a powerful child throwing a fit! People suffer because of you! YOU'RE A MONSTER!"  
Loki grew angry and his darkened in rage. He gripped the scepter tightly and stepped back from Cara.  
"These people will die! There's nothing you can do! It's too late to stop it!" He yelled, voice dripping with a deep anger.  
"Then I'll die with them!" Cara screamed at him.  
She looked at his face and could visibly see his heart break. He looked confused and hurt Cara knew at that moment that the man she knew wasn't a lie. He was there. Somewhere.  
"You said Lucas wasn't real," She started, "You're wrong. He's there. I can see it in your eyes! I still love him, but if you go through with this, you'll kill him. I can't let you do that. You have a chance to fix this! You can end all of this now! You say I should love you, so prove it!"  
"It's too late," Loki choked sadly, "Von Doom will have the world up in flamed before I can do anything."  
"Liar!" Cara called out, her voice growing stern and demanding, "You can fix this. You will fix this. And when you do…I will be standing right here, waiting for you."  
"You said it yourself! I'm a monster!" Loki snarled.  
"Newsflash, buddy! Everyone is!" Cara laughed, "Everyone has a nature for destruction. I should know. I'm human! The only thing that separates people from real monsters, is when they go against that. When they stand up and know that it's wrong. When they're sick of hearing people choke from the debris that destruction causes! When they try their best to fix this broken and crappy world instead of making it worse! That is when they're no longer monsters!"  
"I…I can't fix it. This is my life! It's what I do. It's all I do. I have nothing left! Nothing but killing my way to the top and I will let no one stand in my way!"  
"You're wrong. This isn't all you have! You have me! You have friends! If you truly are Loki, then you had a family! A brother!"  
"They're not my family!" Loki all but screamed.  
"What happened to you?!" Cara demanded.  
"They betrayed me! They lied to me!"  
"So, someone hurt you? And that's why you are what you are? Loki?"  
Hearing his name come from her, Loki felt this deep searing pain. She was disappointed. He had failed at winning her. She didn't want the world! He had no idea how else to win her heart. He had no back up plan.  
"Loki," Cara said sweetly, "People are made to hurt. We make mistakes and people get hurt. It's not fun. It's painful. You feel lost and hurt. You don't even really know who you are outside of all of this. Let me help you! Please!"  
"Why would you help me?" he choked.  
"Because I love you!" Cara stated, a few stray tears rolling down her face. There was a deafening silence. Even the sounds of destruction seemed muffled and distorted to them. Cara could only see one thing. She could only see the pain in Loki's eyes.  
"No." was all Loki said.  
He turned away from her to see six that had beem Avengers standing a way behind him. They just stood there with confused looks. If her were not upset, he would have found it funny to see them standing there.  
"I love you, Loki." came from behind him.  
That was the only sound he could hear. He could see Captain America start yelling at him (he assumed to "stand down"), but he heard nothing. All he heard was what Cara had said. It played in his mind again and again. She had said it…to him! The sound of his name seemed like a cold wake up call. He looked around at the tired and bloodied heroes. At the burning city and the rampaging soldiers. Everything seemed to move in slow motion around him.  
"What have I done?" he gasped.  
Heavy footsteps approached him. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder.  
"Brother," a deep and familiar voice said.  
Loki looked up to meet the gaze of the man he had once called "brother" himself.  
"We were friends once. We once fought together. We helped each other. I am asking you to help me now, as you once did. I cannot do this without you."  
"I…I'm so sorry," was the reply from Loki, before he vanished into green smoke. Thor expected that this meant the Avengers would fight this battle alone. They split off and went to contain what they could of the army.

Meanwhile, Doom led his troops with pride as the attack spread. Loki Reappeared beside him, in his full armor, just as he had left.  
"The attack has gone better than I could have ever expected, Loki" Doom stated.  
"Yes. The plan is perfect. There's only one problem…I'm not Loki."  
The Asgardian smiled and Doom spun around to watch his back, but he was too late. Loki stood behind him already. He jabbed the scepter into Von Doom's armor and the armor began to change.  
"NO!" Doom shouted in disbelief, "You tricked me!"  
"Umm… 'god of mischief'. Hello?" Loki laughed.  
In a split second Doom, himself, had changed. Where one evil warlord stood, there was now a solid stone likeness of him and…not many people survive being turned to stone. The soldiers in the area noticed the destruction of their leader. They began to pull away from the city and retreat while they could. It was over.  
"Excellent job, Dorian," Loki congratulated.  
The armor from the Loki imposter faded into a leather tunic. The scars on Dorian's face faded, for they were never really there.  
"Thank you, Loki." Dorian chimed, matching Loki's voice exactly.

On the other side of town, the Avengers chased away the remaining enemies. Jamie and Brooke had made there way through the fleeing army and now stood by where the Avengers were. The last angry soldier ran toward Jamie, but fell to the ground screaming. Jamie stood proudly over him, tazer in hand.  
"I told you it would come in handy," she chimed at Brooke.  
Cara ran up to them and threw her arms around both of them. In a flash, Loki appeared in the middle of the trashed street corner. Next to him appeared Dorian.  
"Jamie!" Dorian shouted over toward the girls.  
Jamie bolted over to him and all but tackled him to the ground. He just held her tightly. Cara ran up to Loki and trew her arms around his waist.  
"I told you, you could do it," she sighed happily.  
He kissed her head and held her close to him.  
"I love you too," he whispered.  
He pulled away from her and walked directly to Captain America. He dropped the scepter to the side and held out his wrists.  
"What are you waiting for?" the Captain asked, still processing what the heck had just happened.  
"Handcuffs and a muzzle," Loki sneered, "Isn't that out usual arrangement?"  
"Arrest him already, Rodgers!" Iron Man whined from behind.  
The Captain stopped for a moment and then came to a decision.  
"That won't be necessary," he stated, professionally as always, "I think that Dr. Doom can take the heat for this one. We got everyone cleared in time, so only the city itself paid for this. I'm sure SHIELD will be glad to hear about you aid and co-operation. I assume that Doom won't be open for interrogation."  
"He's not going to be talking anymore, no." Loki said, after shaking off the confusion from Rodgers' response.  
"What?" came Stark's voice again, "We're just going to tell Fury that Doom's down and Loki's suddenly Man of the Year?!"  
"Something like that," Rodgers laughed.  
Five of the Avengers headed out and were gone without another word. Only Thor stayed behind.  
"Loki," Thor said softly.  
Loki just looked up at him with a heavy heart.  
"You said that we were friends once," Loki noted, "Is there any world where we can be again?"  
Thor merely dropped Mjolnir and walked up to his brother. He took his baby brother into a strong hug.  
"You will always be my brother, Loki."  
Loki stood speechless, but happy. Thor released him and backed up.  
"I must go with the others, but you are needed elsewhere. Go and be with your lady. ValHalah rejoices knowing that you finally found someone that can tolerate you!" Thor laughed as her grabbed his hammer and flew off.

Loki walked slowly back over to Cara.  
"I know." he started, "I lied to you, used you, and betrayed the love you had for me. I also doubted the strength that you have. I am truly sorry."  
He would have continued, but he was cut off by Cara throwing her arms around his neck and locking him into a deep kiss.  
"So she's just gonna go on dating a super-villain?!" Brooke asked.  
She looked around to find that Jamie and Cara were both…"busy", so she was talking to herself. She just kicked the tazed soldier in the head and walked off to find the nearest cab that was in one piece.  
Cara just stood in the middle of the debris, happily being held by Loki. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and she just nuzzled into his shoulder. He gently stroked her hair and kissed her head, but paused to think for a moment. Cara pulled back to look at him.  
"What happens now?" he asked.  
"Umm…I don't know," Cara laughed, "I really don't know."


	6. Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to leave a note asking for opinions on the story so far. The story was written forever ago, but it's only been posted recently. I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'll finish it, so I am waiting to see how well it does over the next few days. If there are enough visitors and positive reviews, I'll continue writing. So, if you like my story, please comment and let me know. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Mischief's Angel


End file.
